Day 43 July 12 96km 759m vertical, 11°C thick fog cold S wind

Marathon to White River
This morning I felt it was necessary to check the calendar. I shook it and checked again and it still said July. Well you could have fooled me looking at the weather. Visibility was about 100m and the damp fog felt a lot colder than 11°C. I promise not to say anything bad about Scottish weather again. It was a tough start with a 4km climb out of downtown Marathon up to the TransCanada Hwy and then east through 20km of roadworks where the asphalt had been ground off leaving grooves that don’t bother cars but cause narrow bike tyres to constantly shift left and right. It was a relief to finally get onto a normal road surface. The day brightened slowly and by mid afternoon was warm and sunny while the wind freshened to a point where when we left the shelter of the forest to pass a lake it nearly blew us both to a standstill before we could lean on the pedals harder. Scenery continues to be impressive including many square kilometres that a few years ago were destroyed by fire and though green again lacks any trees. Guess what? We are in a motel again. Anybody want to buy a three man tent?

Day 42 July 11 101km 1000M Vertical

Schreiber to Marathon
We started the day with a visit to the Internet Café and then the railway Museum at Schreiber. The Museum was small but informative, just right for a 1 hour tour. We left Schreiber at noon and headed for Marathon. The theme of the day was hills, hills and more hills. We had a mild headwind so we were not fast and the constant uphills kept the average speed down. For every uphill there is a downhill, but sometimes it’s hard to find. Today we followed the shore of Lake Superior and had glimpses of the beautiful scenery along the lake. But, by the end of the day we counting the meters climbed and looking for a new daily record for Ontario. (It didn’t happen)

Day 41 July 10 95km 1013m vertical, 15°C cool SE wind

Nipigon to Schreiber
We left Nipigon at 10:45 and headed east on Highway 17. Our hopes of the NW wind to push us along were dashed when we saw a SE wind blowing during breakfast. The day did not start well for TimG because the pancakes that he had looked forward to were served cold so he sent them back and made do with a cup of coffee. We set off against a strong head wind and the road featured many climbs several of which were long and steep. Because of the conditions our average speed was only 19kph. The road ran close to the shores of Lake Superior and we often had good views of the scenery. Shortly after starting we came across another group of cyclists on a cross Canada ride. We had camped at the same campsite in Assiniboia Sask June 19. We leapfrogged each other all day long and ended up eating lunch together in Rossport, a pretty little town right on the edge of the lake.

Day 40 July 9th 115km 686m vertical, 18°C cool NW wind

Thunder Bay to Nipigon
I think if we had stayed any longer living the good life with TimB”s relatives we would not have got back on the bikes. It was 11:30 before we got going. We had to ride along the north east shore road to Nipigon with a strong NW wind blowing across or against us. Together with stretches of road that were in an appalling state (and we are talking about the Trans Canada Highway here) it was a fairly tough day. After about 70km we took a loop road to Ouimet/Eagle Canyon to see Canada’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge over Eagle Canyon. I thought it was daylight robbery charging us $18 apiece to walk over the bridge but we did have a good laugh getting it to sway about and trying to bounce it up and down (actually that was me while TimB was trying to take pictures). After that little excursion we had to crack on for the last 40km as it was getting a bit late. We finished tired but with high hopes of being able to benefit from the NW wind in the morning when we turned the corner to start heading E along the north side of the lake.

Day 39 July 8

Rest day in Thunder Bay
We toured Thunder Bay with Frank our host and spent more money in bike shops. We worked on our bikes and we ate and drank more food and beer. We raised the issue of staying here until our trip is over but Frank pointed out that his children have moved out and he doesn't want two more. Tomorrow we hit the road again.

Day 38 July 7 55km Warm and sunny

Oliver Lake to Thunder Bay
We left Oliver Lake and headed to the big city of Thunder Bay. At 110,000 inhabitants, Thunder Bay has doubled since I lived here. However all the distances seemed so short. On the way to my other cousin (Sharon) we rode past my old house, my old elementary school, my old ski club, old swimming pool. The house was smaller, the school was gone, the ski club was closed and the pool was still there. For the first time since leaving Lethbridge we found some very good bike shops where I bought a new tire and TimG bought a new helmet. We arrived at cousin Sharon’s at 3 PM to find the Wal-Mart greeters out on the street waving us into the right driveway. We enjoyed a very warm welcome, a very good meal and then met all my family in Port Arthur. To say my family contains a few live wires is not an understatement - Melissa.

Day 37 July 6 hot and sunny

Rest Day at Oliver lake

Day 36 July 5 60km Hot and sunny Wind SW moderate

We rode the Trans-Canada from Shabaqua to Kakabeka Falls and then stopped at the Niagara of the north. The falls were awesome, - the sheer volume of water and the roar of the water leave a lasting impression. One lady I talked to is a local who said she has never seen so much water going over the falls in her life. She was a lot older than me.
We turned south at Stanley and took gravel roads for 15km to Oliver Lake. We arrived at 3pm and the party was in full swing. My cousin Danny lives year round on Oliver lake. Over the years, he has mastered the art of enjoying the lake at it’s best and Saturday was hot and sunny. We ate, drank, swam and watched the fireworks he had saved for the fourth of July (my anniversary). It was a good start to our 4 day layover in Thunder Bay.

Day 35 July 4 144km 897m vertical. Warm and sunny, wind W. to SW moderate.

Atikokan to Shabaqua
We spent the night in the Atikokan Hotel - our best hotel so far on this trip. The hotel is old, but very well maintained. Our room had beautiful wood floors and the nicest bathroom to date. All rooms had different comforter and pillow combinations - it was more like a museum than a hotel. The food was quite good and pricey. After a hearty breakfast we hit the road at 11:00 and planned to do 120km to Shebandowan. The winds were favourable, the road went up and down all day and the scenery was interesting. Only the bugs were bad. At one stop, TimG road around in circles to avoid the mossies, while I took a picture - I’m still scratching. We tried to always stop where the wind was strong. The up and down roads today meant we had our largest vertical climb since BC and the fifth highest climbing day of the trip. We passed the Artic/Atlantic watershed today - you could be forgiven for thinking it would all be downhill after the watershed but it wasn’t. However, we managed to averaged 25.0 kph (good for us and our luggage). As our contribution to the environment today we rescued Stanley the turtle from the middle of the road and put him in a ditch. He’s not a flat Stanley yet!
Our planned destination was to have been Shebandowan Lake but the Hotel was no longer in business as such so we carried on to Shabaqua, an extra 20 km. But what’s another 20 km when you’ve already done 124.